Curve falter late in game

April 27, 2014

AKRON, Ohio - The Curve offense fell flat Saturday afternoon, and one bad inning cost the pitching staff as the club saw its five-game winning streak come to an end.

Altoona scored its only run in the first inning, and for most of the day it appeared that would hold up. But Akron's offense finally came to life in the seventh inning as four hits produced two runs and gave the RubberDucks a 2-1 win at Canal Park.

The Curve's fifth win in a row Friday night moved them above .500 for the first time in more than a year, but they dropped back to the break-even mark with Saturday's loss. The winning streak had helped Altoona move into a tie for second place in the Western Division at just a game behind Richmond entering play Saturday.

Gift Ngoepe singled and scored on an error for the Curve's lone run in the first. The team had two hits in that inning but managed only two more the rest of the game, and none after the fifth inning.

Starter A.J. Morris made the 1-0 lead hold up while he was on the mound as he gave up only three hits over five shutout innings. He struck out three and walked just one while lowering his ERA to 1.72.

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Brandon Mann came on in relief in the sixth inning and worked three frames but wound up suffering the loss as the RubberDucks got to him for two runs in the seventh.

Akron put pressure on Mann (1-2) to start the seventh as Joe Wendle doubled and Bryson Myles singled. Jordan Smith singled two batters later to tie the game, and Alex Lavisky singled home Myles for the go-ahead run.

Jordan Cooper (1-0) won in relief for Akron with two shutout innings. RubberDucks starter Cody Anderson allowed just one run on four hits in five innings. Shawn Armstrong worked the ninth inning and stranded the tying run at second base to earn his second save.

Game recap

Key player: LF Bryson Myles went 2-for-4 and scored the decisive run for Akron.